Senate OKs gun-control bill without Nielsen vote

He called the bill "a money grab by an agency that had the money and didn't do the job."

The measure, Senate Bill 140, passed the Senate, 31-0, and now goes to the Assembly. Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, wrote the bill.

The measure would allocate $24 million to the state Department of Justice to hire more staff to take guns away from people who are prohibited from owning them.

In a phone interview, Nielsen said he abstained, rather than voting against the bill, because he supports taking guns away from such people.

He said he couldn't vote for the bill because, he said, the Department of Justice has had enough money to do the job but hasn't done it. It doesn't need more money, he said.

"I'm willing to amend the bill to ensure that they do the job," he said. "They need to show us what they are going to do. Set timelines. Present a plan for how they will find parolees out there."

The senator said, however, he believed the bill would pass the Legislature without being amended in this way.

According to an analysis of the bill, the Department of Justice says the measure would allow for removing weapons from people on the state's Armed Prohibited Persons List. The department says there are more than 20,000 people on this list, "dangerous felons, violent misdemeanor offenders and individuals who have been adjudicated mentally ill."

The department states that "these individuals are believed to hold up to 39,140 handguns and 1,679 assault weapons. Every year, there are an additional 3,000 prohibited people added to the list."

In opposition, the analysis says, the National Shooting Sports Foundation argues that the funding source SB140 would use is inappropriate. That source is fees paid by people who buy guns legally.

The analysis lists the following as supporters of SB140: Attorney General Kamala Harris, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association, Chief Probation Officers of California, Women Against Gun Violence and several other entities and groups.

Among opponents of the bill, it lists the California Association of Firearms Retailers, the California Rifle and Pistol Association, the California Sportsman's Lobby and the National Rifle Association of America.

Nielsen said the time to take guns away from criminals is when they appear for sentencing. It's much harder to take away their guns when they are back on the street.

Also, on Thursday, Nielsen's office sent out a news release noting that he had been named "outstanding legislator of the year" by the California Rifle and Pistol Association.

During the interview, the senator hit on a theme he has talked about frequently, Assembly Bill 109, the realignment law that provided for releasing inmates from state prisons to county jails.

The law has put more offenders out on the streets, "unleashing a crime wave against the people of California," Nielsen said.

"Under AB109, any felon can get 90 days in custody for a parole violation. I'd put them in jail for 365 days for a violation," he said. "We need to change AB109 to make sure inmates face severe consequences if they continue to violate instead of diminished-to-no consequences."

Instead of putting state inmates in county jails, he said, California should open prisons that have been closed and use them to house prisoners. Rehabilitation programs should be provided, too, he said.

Money could be saved by providing health care to prisoners through managed care, such as HMOs, he added.

Reach Larry Mitchell at 896-7759, lmitchell@chicoer.com, or on Twitter @LarryMitchell7.